Sunday, August 30, 2015

More Lies From Tom Harris

Tom Harris has posted another of his lies, this time comparing the coal industry to someone falsely accused of a crime. You can read it here. I have submitted the following at a rebuttal to his false claims.

*****

This is in response to “Coal industry leaders betraying
workers,” written by Tom Harris and Tim Ball and published August 29.

Misters Harris and Ball use a highly deceptive analogy in an
attempt to make the coal industry appear as an innocent person unjustly accused
of committing crimes. The truth is, coal is a very dirty industry. There is
nothing innocent about the business and it knows it. A much better analogy
would be to compare coal to the tobacco industry executives who testified
before Congress that nicotine is not addictive, even though they knew otherwise
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_ZDQKq2F08).

Misters Harris and Ball state, “You would expect coal leaders to proclaim
their industry’s innocence of the crime of which they stand accused, pointing
out, for example, that:
– Global warming stopped 18 years ago despite a
10% rise in CO2 levels,
– Hurricane activity is at a record low,
– Medium to strong tornadoes have become less
frequent,
– Antarctic sea ice cover has been increasing at
about 1 to 2% per decade,

Let’s take a look at these claims. First, global warming has
not stopped and the claim it stopped 18 years ago has been so completely
debunked you immediately have to question the credibility of anyone making that
false statement. This claim is based on the fact that you can find an average
of any database. Fossil fuel industry supporters take that average and draw a
straight line, claiming this shows there is no warming. What is interesting is
this claim actually proves global warming is continuing. If you look at their
claim over time, the only way you can explain their results is by concluding
the planet is getting warmer. Read more about this lie at: http://dialoguesonglobalwarming.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-great-warming-pause-lie-revealed.html.

What about hurricane activity? It is true the United States
is in a low-level period of hurricane activity. The lie is to characterize this
as worldwide low. In fact, the western Pacific Ocean and the Indian
Ocean have seen an increase in tropical cyclone activity. Why
didn’t Misters Harris and Ball mention that? This is what is known as ‘cherry
picking’ and consists of using only the data that supports your claim and
ignoring all else.

What about the tornadoes? It is true the number of tornadoes
from 2012-2014 was very low. In fact, 2014 was one of the quietest years ever
recorded. But, again, Misters Harris and Ball have cherry picked the data. The
year 2004 tied the all-time record number of tornadoes. Likewise, the years 2008
and 2011 were significantly higher than the average. Why wasn’t this revealed?

And, let’s discuss the Antarctic sea ice. According to the
National Snow and Ice Data Center,
the maximum sea ice extent (occurring in September) around Antarctica
has been growing at 1.3% per decade. So, was the statement truthful? Of course,
not. What they failed to mention is how the amount of land ice on Antarctica is decreasing at an alarming, and increasing,
rates. They also failed to mention the sea ice extent this year is dramatically
below the average, currently running at more than 10% lower than last year. All
of this also ignores how land ice around the world and sea ice in the Arctic is disappearing. This is the lie of omission. They
didn’t want you to know about this, so they left it out of the conversation and
provided only what they wanted you to know.

And, there is another lie of omission in their letter. What
they didn’t tell you is these two men are both supported by the fossil fuel
industry. Mr. Harris, in particular, has a long track record as a fossil fuel lobbyists
and is closely associated with the Heartland Institute which is supported by
the fossil fuel and tobacco industries. Take a look here for more information
on Mr. Harris:

Unfortunately for Misters Harris and Ball and their
employers, the science about manmade climate change is settled. In fact, there
is no scientific evidence to the contrary. There is no reproducible scientific
evidence to provide any alternative explanation. Read about what happens when
scientists attempt to reproduce contrarian claims (spoiler alert: they are
unable to reproduce them). The only valid scientific conclusion is that manmade
emissions are changing the climate.

In short, coal is the number one source of compounds sulfur
and nitrogen pollution in the atmosphere; it is the number one source of
mercury in the food chain (our food chain!); it is the number one source of
manmade radioactive material in the air; it produces particulate pollution
responsible for a number of respiratory and pulmonary health problems; it is
the number one source of poisonous arsenic in the water system. And, oh yeah,
it produces billions of tons of carbon dioxide leading to climate change.

Tom Harris and Tim Ball are paid by the fossil fuel industry
to deceive the public on the facts. But, their lies do not change the facts:
The crisis is real and we need to act.